MP Victoria Atkins back PM over Brexit

John Fieldhouse & Chloe West

Louth and Horncastle MP Victoria Atkins has revealed she will be ‘fully supporting’ under fire Prime Minister Theresa May in the battle to secure the best possible Brexit deal for the United Kingdom.

Ms Atkins retained her seat, securing a record-breaking victory for the constituency in last Thursday’s election.

While Louth and Horncastle remained a sea of blue, it was a nightmare night nationally for the Tories as they failed to secure a working majority in the House of Commons.

In a short statement released to The Leader yesterday (Tuesday), Ms Atkins did not specifically comment on the furore surrounding Mrs May’s future – or the potential power sharing deal with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

She said: “The Brexit negotiations are to commence in a matter of days and I will be fully supporting the Prime Minister and ministers in securing the best deal for the United Kingdom.

“I will be working hard to ensure that this means a bright and prosperous future for Louth and Horncastle.”

Ms Atkins’ majority of 19,641 was the biggest since the constituency was created in 1997 following a series of boundary changes.

Her winning tally of 33,733 was also the largest recorded in the Louth and Horncastle constituency since 1997.

She secured almost 8,000 more votes than in the 2015 election when she took the seat for the first time with a majority of 16,678.

Long-standing MP Sir Peter Tapsell polled 21,065 votes in the 2010 election – the last time he stood – and secured a majority of 13,871.

Ms Atkins vowed to continue to stand up for her constituents in parliament, saying should would focus on a number of issues including employment and improved broadband.

Speaking just minutes after her victory, Ms Atkins said: “I want to continue all the campaigns that I have been running before, making sure local health services meet the standards we require.

“Also, I want to try to improve the infrastructure a little bit more as Louth and Horncastle are wonderful places in which to live and work and I want to keep it that way.”

Ms Atkins said she did feel Mrs May had made ‘the right call’ to call the snap election.

Ms Atkins attended the Louth and Horncastle count with her husband Paul and an army of supporters including East Lindsey District Council leader Craig Leyland.

Although an odds-on favourite to retain the seat, Ms Atkins said she had not taken anything for granted and added she had campaigned hard to secure her victory.

She was helped to some extent by the collapse of the UKIP vote. UKIP had finished second in 2015 but this time around it was Labour’s Julie Speed who proved to be the closest challenger with 14,092 votes.

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